The escalating trade war rhetoric continued Thursday evening as President Trump said he had directed the U.S. Trade Representative to consider ordering an additional $100 billion worth of tariffs on China’s exports, CNN reports. The Chinese government responded by reiterating that it doesn't want "to fight a trade war, but we are not afraid of fighting it."

Supplier Breach

A supplier of technology and chat services to Delta and other airlines said this week it was “involved in a cyber incident,” Supply Chain Dive reports. According to a press release from Delta, [24]7.ai, the software company, discovered and contained a breach in October 2017 that exposed some customer payment data but not personal data about the airline’s customers.

Copper Prices

With prospects of a genuine trade war between China and the U.S. becoming more likely by the day, commodities markets are responding accordingly. Case in point: Prices for copper, demand for which China accounts for 45% of, have fallen considerably this year. Copper for May delivery, for example, closed down 1.7% at $3.0105, the Wall Street Journal reports. The metal is down 8.6% so far for the year.

Jobs Report

And finally, an economic update: The U.S. labor market added 103,000 jobs in March, undercutting an expected an increase of about 185,000, the New York Times reports. While the report was weaker than the impressive February results, March’s jobs data still supported the general trend of continued growth in the labor market.